High-impact Jewish communities can only make effective change if we address challenges, pursue opportunities, and partner with others. Partnership with Purpose (PWP) builds diverse networks that revolve around shared visions and values and span across a variety of community purposes. We nurture the partnerships and relationships, understanding that every decision and collaboration must first start from a place of mutual trust. Success results in strengthening our community, schools, and institutions by being fiscally responsible, reducing overhead costs, sharing resources, and encouraging cross-pollination among our organizations.

The PWP model is built on trust of organizational leadership. There are, unfortunately, those who prefer to use the term “coopetition” meaning cooperation while being competitive. This mentality is destructive to community building and goes against the values of Partnership with Purpose. It fosters a sense of distrust and skepticism rather than building relationships anchored in our growth as a whole community.

At Gesher JDS in Fairfax, Virginia we have over twenty on-going successful PWPs. These alliances enable multiple community organizations to meet their missions, while maintaining fiscal responsibility and increasing impact in our local Jewish community. These partnerships affect every department of our school including day-to-day operations, academics and curriculum development, professional development, family engagement, and admissions.

Below are several examples that showcase the tangible impact of our PWP model that are all replicable in other communities. While these examples have been tremendously successful, it is important to note that none of this would be possible without the right mission-driven leadership at the table and the philanthropic funders who invest in this success. 

• Jewish Social Service Agency (JSSA): In partnership with JSSA, for the past three years, Gesher connected families have been able to receive direct therapeutic services from a licensed clinical social worker during school hours. We provide JSSA with office space (free of charge) and Gesher families, faculty, or staff who seek clinical services can access them onsite. This prevents an extra schlep for parents and reduces the amount of time a student is out of class for therapy appointments.

• PJ Library: Our three-year partnership with PJ library has had an enormous impact on our exposure to the broader Jewish community. PJ Library-Prizmah Day School Engagement and Enrollment Initiative (DSEE) supports Jewish day schools in running PJ Library programs for families with young children. As a direct result of this partnership, we expanded our ability to reach new families, increased the quality of our outreach programs, and more than tripled the total number of families in our enrollment pipeline. Simultaneously, PJ Library achieves its programmatic and community engagement goals connecting with the 1,700 PJ families who live in our Northern Virginia region. The success and growth are completely mutual.  

• Summer Camps: We partnered with Camp Achva, our local JCC day camp, and Capital Camps, an overnight camp that serves our region, to host a Saturday evening Havdalah event. We had over 100 participants attend! We shared staffing and program expenses, marketing responsibilities, and participant lists (Yes, we shared the names of participants because everyone deserves to be able to follow up with program participants). Families from different community segments mingled, and each organization was able to increase their funnel for new family participation/enrollment in their respective programs.

• The Jewish Foundation for Group Homes (JFGH):  The Meaningful Opportunities for Successful Transitions (MOST) program offered by JFGH enables young adults with special needs to gain independent work and life skills. Gesher JDS brought two MOST interns on board this year. Both interns are valued members of our Gesher team supporting learning inside the classroom and fostering community around our campus. This partnership serves Gesher’s mission by allowing us to live our values tangibly, modeling an inclusive community to the students and community at large. 

• Professional Development Events: Professional development creates a meaningful and unifying opportunity for PWP among educators from different schools. This school year, we participated in a day of learning and networking with colleagues from other local day schools: Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School and Milton Gottesman Jewish Day School of the Nation’s Capital. We learned with experts together as a community of educators. Our faculty gained practical strategies, tools, and approaches they can use in their classrooms to support our students. Expenses along with the planning logistics were shared by each school in addition to outside funders, who encourage collaboration.

• Other Day Schools: For more than 10 years, we have partnered with two similarly sized day schools for our 8th grade Israel trip. (Shout out to Bornblum Jewish Community School in Memphis and Saul Mirowitz Jewish Community School in St. Louis). This group experience has enabled our students to study with and make a new circle of friends. We have shared the overhead staffing and planning, and we reduced travel costs for all three schools.

• Other Faith-Based Schools: PWP isn’t just for Jewish partners. We are in conversation with a new partner, a neighboring Christian school. Together, we are exploring opportunities to split transportation expenses for shared routes, enabling both schools to more efficiently serve our Northern Virginia community. Additionally, this effort can foster interfaith collaboration among two values-based schools.

Everyone can find a partner. Go to events that aren’t affiliated with your organization. Utilize your community network. Or simply pick up the phone to introduce yourself. If you seek out partners, you will find eager allies who want to see success not only for themselves, but for the community as a whole.

Jennifer Scher is the director of institutional advancement for Gesher Jewish Day School. Jennifer has spent the majority of her professional and personal family life engaged in the strengthening of Jewish life and community in Northern Virginia (NoVA). Her vision positions the day school as the hub for Jewish learning in the NoVA community, serving not only the whole child but the whole family and the whole community.